Ten to Watch: The Madness Continues

March Madness finally caught up to Ten to Watch on Thursday
when basketball took over every television and computer screen we
could get our eyes on. But 10-2-W experienced much madness before
that -- last week, in
particular -- which is reflected in several of
our records below. Editor Emeritus led the way at 8-2, H-Dubs
continued her charge up the big board and Ghandi posted a strong
number, but the rest of us were iffy. The degree of
difficulty remains high this weekend, with a season-high five
levels of play represented. Let's get it on.

In the event of ties, we're listed alphabetically by last
names. All times Eastern.

The 2012 season hasn't gone as expected thus far for either Duke
or North Carolina, but Friday's rivalry game could be a big
momentum builder for the winner. The Blue Devils started the year
ranked second in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason poll, and the Tar
Heels were sixth, but they're off to a combined 9-5 start; Duke
lost to Notre Dame, Maryland and Loyola, while Carolina tripped up
in back-to-back losses to Lehigh and Penn.

Who will have the edge Friday? If history is any indication,
advantage Blue Devils, who have owned the Tobacco Road battle since
2005, taking 13 of the last 14 contests. On Monday, Duke bounced
back from its weekend loss to Loyola by beating Harvard 11-8, in
which redshirt senior Mike Rock made his first start of the season
and recorded a career-high 12 saves, but offensively coach John
Danowski wants to see more "lacrosse play instead of athletic
play." Carolina coach Joe Breschi has been putting together the
puzzle pieces on the offensive end, with many moving parts and
players seeing time in different spots. The unit showed encouraging
signs against Princeton in the Face-Off Classic, though they've
struggled with turnovers. A key matchup: the faceoff X, where R.G.
Keenan and CJ Costabile will square off.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me
twice, shame on me. Fool me three times? Well, I'll give Duke the
chance. I picked the Blue Devils to beat Notre Dame and Loyola in
earlier installments of 10-2-W, and I'm not stopping at Carolina --
if for no other reason than Duke's recent success against the
Heels. One of these times I'm bound to be right.

Two returning final four teams go at in central New York. It's
the first real test of the season for TCNJ, which has won its first
four by an average margin of 10.5 goals. Cortland, although it has
played just three games, has had its share of competition already,
losing by one to now-No. 2 Salisbury and beating No. 8 Franklin and
Marshall in its last two contests. Lindsay Abbott has led Cortland
with 18 points thus far. TCNJ's Leigh Mitchell, Lacrosse Magazine's Division II women's
preseason player of the year, has been playing at a
high level, setting the school record for points in a game (13) on
March 8 against Ramapo. The Red Dragons will try to slow her.

These are two of the better teams in the nation and both
were final four participants a year ago, nevertheless, it's
interesting to see how differently their 2012 schedules are
constructed. TCNJ is 5-0, but will be facing its first real
challenge of the season Saturday, with top-10 match-ups ahead
against Gettysburg, F&M and Salisbury in the second half of the
season. Meanwhile, Cortland has been tested early, having already
split with Salisbury and F&M heading into the TCNJ showdown.
The Dragons don't have another top-20 team on the schedule
following this week's game. Play them early, or play them late? For
good teams, I wonder if it really matters.

No one would have guessed at the outset of the season that this
non-conference game would have such high stakes, but the Stags and
Raiders have been two of the surprise stories of 2012. Fairfield's
program-best seven-game winning streak to start the season includes
impressive overtime triumphs of Hofstra and UMBC. Colgate's lone
blip was a 9-6 loss to Dartmouth in which the Raiders did not shoot
particularly well and ran into a hot goalie. (The Big Green's
Fergus Campbell made 15 saves.) The visiting team has won five of
six in this series (Fairfield won a neutral-site encounter in
2004). Colgate junior midfielder Peter Baum leads Division I with
29 goals through seven games, while freshman 6-foot-4, 217-pound
freshman Ryan Walsh has 15 points in the last three games.
Fairfield's success has been driven by a deep senior class that
includes John Snellman and Brent Adams (tied for team lead with 21
points apiece) and goalie Charlie Cipriano, a fourth-year starter
who ranks 13th in the country in save percentage (.571) and saves
per game (10.83).

I'm really intrigued by this one. Colgate has a legitimate
program-defining threat in Peter Baum and seems to have responded
well to first-year coach Mike Murphy (former Army assistant) and
staff. But this is the Raiders first game against a
nationally-ranked opponent. Fairfield has been great thus far
– heck, the Stags are undefeated – and an overtime
win against UMBC that initially raised my eyebrows, looked better
and carries a little more weight after the Retrievers upset
Maryland three days later. A non-conference win here would benefit
either team come tournament selection time if either is on the
bubble, which is a possibility. Oh, I have to pick a
winner?

Two teams that certainly won't mind a fresh start get one in
their Colonial Athletic Association opener on Long Island on
Saturday. Since beating Sacred Heart in its opener, Hofstra has
dropped three of four, including agonizing overtime losses to
Fairfield and Notre Dame. An inexperienced Hofstra offense is
averaging just 7.6 goals per game and only 42 percent of its goals
have been assisted. Clearly they have work to do on that end of the
field. Delaware snapped a three-game losing streak with a huge win
over Villanova, but then was upset by Stony Brook last weekend.
Senior attackman Grant Kaleikau is having a huge season (13 goals,
18 assists), but the Hens have found little consistent offense
beyond him.

The Boston College attack is chugging along with 14.29 goals per
game, led by freshman U19 alums Michaela Rix (26 goals, two
assists) and Covie Stanwick (16g, 10a). The defense (12.57 goals
allowed per game) is where the Eagles need help, especially after a
16-12 loss to unranked (but solid) Albany. The only team Boston
College has held to single-digits was unranked Holy Cross in its
season opener. Head coach Bowen Holden has alternated between
starting senior Catherine Conway and freshman Emily Mata in goal
with mixed results. That's a tough match-up versus the Terps who
have six players with double-digit goals already, led by Katie
Schwarzmann (24 goals). Maryland leads the series, 7-0.

Last spring, Le Moyne traveled to Adelphi in late April and
handed the Panthers one of their two regular-season losses, 9-8.
The Dolphins never got their chance to double-up Adelphi in the
Northeast-10 conference tourney (they lost to Merrimack in the
semifinals), and it likely cost them the regional bid to the NCAA
tournament. Now, in a role reversal, the Panthers are heading up to
Syracuse as the higher-ranked team playing against a relatively
unknown roster for Le Moyne. The winner still has plenty of heavy
lifting to do, but will instantly be the favorite for the North
invite.

I've interviewed both Le Moyne's Dan Sheehan and Adelphi's
Gordon Purdie outside of the losing locker room at M&T Bank
Stadium, and it was a painful chat in each instance. It's certainly
a testament to the Northeast-10 that they've managed to be in the
finals as much as they have, but it's been five years since one of
that conference's teams took home the Walnut & Bronze. I think
the NE-10 has its best opportunity to get back on top, and it will
be on the backs of Adelphi. That's why the Panthers will win this
close one.

Where do you begin to describe this epic battle? It's the 50th
all-time meeting of the two winningest men's college programs, who
have combined to win nearly half (20: 11 for Syracuse, nine for
Hopkins) of the national titles since 1971 when men's lacrosse
became an NCAA-sponsored sport. The series dates back to a 1921
game that ended in a 4-4 tie, and the Blue Jays lead the series
overall 26-22-1, but the Orange have won the last five matchups,
including last year's 5-4 double-overtime squeaker at the Carrier
Dome that wasn't without controversy.

For Hopkins, Saturday afternoon's meeting with Syracuse will be
its toughest test of the young season and also open a challenging
four-game stretch (Virginia, Albany, North Carolina and Albany are
the corner). The Blue Jays rank second nationally in scoring
defense, allowing five goals per game behind the play of Tucker
Durkin and goalie Pierce Bassett, while the Canadian connection of
Zach Palmer and Brandon Benn pace an offense without Chris Boland
and Wells Stanwick, whose statuses are "undetermined," heading into
this game, coach Dave Pietramala said. Syracuse escaped St. John's
last weekend but a week prior showed it can play with the nation's
elite in a 14-10 loss to Virginia. The Orange are still trying to
sort through their goalie situation; Matt Lerman and Dominic
Lamolinara split time in cage against the Red Storm.

The Blue Jays have an advantage in
goal: Pierce Bassett is among the nation's finest, and Syracuse
hasn't settled on a starter. They have the advantage at the faceoff
X: Mike Poppleton has won 57-of-88 (.648) draws, while Syracuse has
lost 33-of-49 (.673) in its last two games. And they have
home-field advantage: The game is being played at Homewood Field,
where Hopkins has won 10 straight. All signs point toward Hopkins
getting its first W against 'Cuse since 2007.

Kudos to whoever assembled the game
notes for this match; lots of interesting tidbits on this big
rivalry. Hop leads the series, 26-22-1, although Desko has the edge
against Petro, 9-8. The combined all-time record of both programs
is 1,742-607-31.

The two participants from the 2011 MCLA Division II championship
game meet again, this time at the St. Louis Lacrosse Invitational
hosted by Missouri Baptist. Davenport took MCLA-I No. 12 Michigan
State to double overtime before feasting on some divisional
lightweights. St. Thomas has blasted a pair of UMLL lightweights as
they enter this game. Both of these teams will be in Greenville in
May, so this game is strictly for seeding purposes.

St. Thomas' third straight title was
in the bank. The Tommies led, 8-6 entering the final quarter of
last year's national championship game against Davenport and were
controlling every aspect of the game. "I thought we had them," said
UST head coach Pete Moosbrugger after the game. The Tommies didn't
have them. The gave up an 8-1 fourth quarter - as well as the
opportunity to be the first MCLA-II team to win three titles - in
the 14-9 loss. Revenge isn't always the best motivator, but it can
be effective. It will be on Friday night.

Denver-Notre Dame is a classic matchup of irresistible force vs.
immovable object, as LaxMagazine.com's Gary Lambrecht details in his
weekly Division I men's notebook. On paper, this is an
exercise in logic. Fortunately, the Pioneers and Irish will play it
out on the field in this "western" rivalry game. Notre Dame has
managed at points this season to squeak by Hofstra and Drexel in
low-scoring one-goal games. The Irish also on Feb. 26 in South Bend
lost 4-3 to Penn State, the one common opponent between ND and
Denver. Denver shellacked the Nittany Lions last Saturday, finding
its offense to jump out to a quick early lead and never giving Penn
State a chance. Final score in that one: 14-6. What will this one
be?

This game is a grudge match for the Commodores who lost, 11-8,
to the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley last year. PSU goalie Dana
Cahill had a career-high 13 saves in that win; she may need to do
as well this time around to hold off Vanderbilt's offense. Her
current save percentage is a nice .525. The Commodores are 5-1,
with their only loss coming to the seemingly unstoppable No. 2
North Carolina. However, they've just squeaked through their last
two games, beating Boston College by one and Louisville by two. Are
the Commodores ripe for an upset? Their offense is tough to stop,
if only because so many people can and will go to goal. Eleven
different players have scored for Vanderbilt this season. Senior
midfielder Ally Carey has 13 goals and sophomore Katie Mastropieri
has 12, but otherwise no one has more than seven.

To quote an ALC coach: "Vanderbilt is
scary. Scary good." To quote another D-I coach, in reference to
four-year starter and first-team All-American Ally Carey: "Oh my
god, when is she going to graduate? I feel like she's been there
forever."